Raff’s cello concertos
are amongst his less well known big
works. Neither is programmatic in the
way his symphonies were and both adhere
strongly to accepted models. They suffered
a conflicting history. The first was
commissioned and first performed by
Friedrich Grützmacher, one of the
leading cellists of the time, whilst
the second was written for David Popper,
though Popper never performed it, there
was no dedication and the concerto had
to wait until 1997 for its premiere.

Raff pitches in his
soloist from the first in his D minor
concerto. There’s a certain brilliant
declamation to the working out, and
the way in which Raff leads from the
first movement coda to the Larghetto
is finely conceived, albeit strongly
modelled on Mendelssohn and Schumann.
Fortunately Müller-Schott plays
with considerable lyric absorption and
throws off the virtuosic challenges
of the finale with aplomb. It’s a shame
that Raff succumbed to dutifulness here
and couldn’t summon up some of the sense
of fantasy that informs his purely symphonic
work; the passagework sounds earthbound
and a sense of routine is apparent throughout.

The second concerto,
the one with the chequered history,
once more reprises the Romantic trajectory
of the first – the soloist plunges in
without an opening orchestral introduction.
Raff writes quite excitingly for the
horns – there’s something heroic sounding
to the writing that braces one for a
verdant and exciting work to come. That
expectation is really only half met.
The pensive lyricism hints at undercurrents
that the Andante rather deflates. It’s
a pleasurable movement but lightweight,
with attractive Schumannesque orchestration
but it tends to be decorative and supportive
of the solo line and hence rather static.

To fill up the disc
we have some attractive smaller pieces
for cello and piano. Begegnung (Meeting)
was written in Weimar when Raff was
Liszt’s assistant. Playful pizzicatos
lace this salon-friendly concoction
but there’s more meat in the Duo. This
is an artful, accomplished piece of
duo writing – and here pizzicati are
put to structural rather than decorative
effect and the lyricism is therefore
that much more convincing. It’s a worthy
addition to the cello-piano duo repertoire
and only its length – quarter of an
hour – might militate against it in
concert. On disc that’s not a problem.

Müller-Schott
is the lynchpin of the programme and
he has the measure of Raff’s sometimes
wayward and ill-focused muse. I like
the way he brings some expressive, old-fashioned
devices to bear to keep the music alive,
to bring warmth to it. A problem however
is the recording. The Bamberg is a good
orchestra enjoying a measure of fame
at the moment under Jonathan Nott –
though here well conducted by Hans Stadlmair
- but it’s been rather poorly served
here. The orchestral sound picture is
distant and unfocused and tuttis don’t
really register. That will be a consideration
of course but the repertoire is rare
and the performances as such are good.

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